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Are there any known legitimate CAD programs for Macintosch out there? Some of our remodeling competitors use Chief Architect and what they are producing looks good. We have not had any luck finding comparable software for our system. If we have to buy a PC we will, but it sure would be nice to work with what we have!
Any advice?
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murph... vectorworks is used by some on this board..
..i know they have a version that runs on mac.os
http://www.nemetschek.net/
*Otherwise, do what I did and buy Virtual PC with Windows.
*Murph, Buy a PC, use Chief Architect. I have been using it for 4 yrs and have found it to be great. the Designers of the software are easy to deal with and havs actually addressed my needs with changes in the programs new versions. I did a little research before buying it. I found it to be inexpensive (in comparison to some others) and very packed with features)
*I am in need of design software. What is "Chief Architect and where can I find it? We are in the kitchen, bath, additions, basements market. Is there a software out there to serve my needs? I've looked at the local comp store but doesn't look like any on shelf is of a professional level.Any help is greatly appreciated!Mike C.
*mcollins: there are dealers all over the world.. but here's mine....Steve & Kay Blake @ berryvale software.you can get a working demo download.. these are good people to deal with..or you can go direct to ART.. but the dealers usually have better deals (no pun)..http://www.berryvalesoftware.com/
*GO TO CHIEFARCHITECT.COM THE COMPANY NAME IS A R T. THEIR PHONE NUMBERS ARE ON THE WEB SITE.
*Chief architect is very good, at $9-1500 depending on base or full version.we have been able to use their "3-d home architect version" ( under 100) with good results.availble through broderbund, they might have a mac versionI dont do enough designs to afford chief architectbut would love to have itanyone giving one away to poor little old meill even take version7
*Ive been using ver. 7 since it came out. i will be buying ver. 8 soon. just as soon as my wife is looking the other way. i did use 3-d home years ago. you are right. it is very useful. upgrade as quick as you can. "real men use chief architect" just dont tell my wife.
*Hey Leighso what will happen with your old version 7 (hint hint)or will you trade it back for the rebate to upgrade. I wont tell your wife, honest
*Look into http://www.deneba.com. DenebaCAD has a great interface and is great at the 3D stuff, too. VR and walkthroughs. Price is quite reasonable. Regular upgrades. They also do Canvas, which you may have heard of.>Buy a PCOh, puke... Only when they pry the Mac from my cold, dead fingers.
*Leigh,Thank you for your advice. I have been using a Mac for 15 years and have developed an irrational fear of PC's in that time. That plus the fact that I do not consider myself to be a computer wiz makes me hesitate to commit to the purchase of both a pc and Chief Architect. Can a total idiot figure this thing out? Realistically, how much time will I have to spend to get proficient? Finally, do you feel that the results are worthwhile? I figure that between the program and the pc I will be spending at $2500 to $3500. The question is, will that investment pay off over time in the form of more won contract and more happy clients?
*Murph, the learning curve and hatred of P C quirks will be much worse than any problems that you have with Chief. You will be able to design rooms, doors, windows, simple roofs, ect. on your first try. I recommend buying the cd training set with the software. I did'nt use them until ver. 7, and they taught me a lot. if you have access to a P C, buy 3-D Home Architect. That is their scaled down consumer product. It costs less than $100.00, and the interface is exactly the same. Chief acts and looks just like it, but there are a world of other features. It's really not just features. I'd say 3-D Home is about 1/20th of the program Chief is. If you cant already tell, I highly recommend it.
*3-d home architect only needs a 300mhz and a cd rom drive with windows 95. this is all pretty basic and old stuff that in my local paper I can pick this stuff up in a used set up for less then 300.The new 3-d program is 39.99when we are doing simple little add ons or remodels I can do it at home. I have even designed and built a 4200 sq ft house using it. However normally when it is anything other then a simpe addition I send it out to my designer, but using my versions as starting pointsthese programs will not make you a designer or architect or solve problems or figure beams and carry capapcity, but they are an inexpensive way to get you and your client started.As i get older and my bones heal a little slower, I will start spending more time with clients and design work and will move up to cheif architect.go to the Broderbund web site, they might have a demo or a buy back program if you are not happy.they do have a Mac section but I dont think it offers design stuffThere is actually two versions out I guess because a friend of mine bought the home design suite and his program will not allow him to do anything but gable roofs, while mine will do all knids of roofs.Lastly ou might want to check the archives of Journal of Light Construction ( also on the web) last year I believe they did a review of design software maybe that article has mac programs listed.
*Murph, I forgot I think ART will give you a price break if you are upgrading from 3-D Home. ART makes both 3-D Home and Chief. They sell 3-D Home through Broderbund.
*last night I gto to play with chief architectmakes me want to cryI need some way to justify the money
*Like i said. I haven't bought ver. 8 yet, but i will as soon as my wife is not looking.
*Who knows how to draw dormers with 3D Home El Cheapo version? Also had trouble drawing Porch posts with no railing. Also, only had double hung windows as option... no crank outs... so very few choices for any of the objects... no French doors.... on and on...near the stream,aj
*aj, you have to create them as rooms then rework the roof around them. this very problem was the straw that broke this camels back for the 3-d version some years ago. creating them in chief is also an indirect process. (rooms upstairs even if the dormers are just for exterior dress up only) but chief allows much more flexibility. about all the other stuff you asked about, chief has it all. by now you are already hooked on the easy to use interface ect. go ahead, take the plunge. just dont tell your wife how much you spent.
*OK..... If anyone has actually drawn a dormer that appears in 3D correctly, maybe you could post your drawing file hear or email it to me so I can take a look at how to do it. I am about to add 4 dormers to a home and just wanted to get the drawings to look right for once.Somehow I built in the wrong plane too. I need to pull all my hard work out of one drawing file and insert into a new one. Have to be careful not to draw in the attic plane.near the stream ready to scream,ajAs per usual, I have finished drawing all on paper the old way in much less time.
*aj, sorry bud i am probably giving chief advice for 3-d home. i dont remember enough abgout 3-d. does 3-d have multiple floors in one file. the older ver. that i used many moons ago did not. just so you know i am not a cg (computer geek) i found dormers very difficult(next to impossible) in 3-d. chief is vastly better, but the same processes are used for rooms, walls, ect. chief has a manual roof creator and editor that 3-d doesnt have (i think). the automatic roof editor is there. i usually create roofs automatically then edit the screw ups out with the manual editor. ps, you willnot find anything more difficult to create than dormers. with chief they sell a 4 cd training set. ver 7. training set had a specific step by step process for creating dormers. it really was easy. call A R T at 800-482-4433 or 208-664-4204. tell them your problems with 3-d, let'em give you their sales pitch explaining the dormer creation thing. wish i could help more leigh
*aj,Had a little free time so did a small experiment using DenebaCAD. Normally do the compound curve stuff with it, so adapting to flat walls was a trial for me. Here's my example with a door, window, and dormer. Took me 44 min from start to jpg. Don't know if that makes this experiment a success or failure, but it's always fun to mess with. One nice thing is that dormers aren't rooms--they're just walls that extrude from one elevation to another. And now that I built the first, the subsequent ones could be added in literally 15 seconds. FWIWJim
*Ok....Jim... nice dormer. But.... I am not ever going to be happy with shortcomings of stinkin CAD. IE... the roof still exists inside the window of your dormer! ARRRGH!!!!!Drawing it on paper with pencil still beats your pic for me.Someday.... Softplan... or Archicad... or... solidbuilder... or... hir it out... or stick with paper... or... go play vball...Or best... Go ski!Off with the boards... my favorite boards... To rip...up the slopes!near the stream still looking for perfection,ajMike Smith...post a good drawing of an entry dormer 2 story, gable, with 3 section french door above leading to small widows walk deck all making for a nice porched entry. below... entry door with sidelights... 12' wide by 12' deep... elliptical top transom window over the 3 section top door.... 8/12 pitches... my use of 3D made a mess of it. Damn attic floor level problem... railings that dropped from one floor down to the bottom. That's the problem with automatic drawing tools... sometimes they automatically draw crap in unexperienced hands.
*sure aj... uh , where do i send the bill ?i'll just stop what i'm doin and take care of that..ackchally.. i'm working my way thru Vs. 8.0 of Chief .. so i'm going up the learning curve again...wanna see a pic of our current work in progress...this was one of the perspective views for the owner
*oooops.. wrong pic... lemme see.. where did i file that ? uh, oh.. it's home in my Cd-burner..
*ok.. here it is...notice that it isn't cleaned up...there's a hole in the gable end.. and a clapboard is missing over the casement windows... but you can look thru the windows and see the furnishings that were drawn in.... so, if you draw it right, Chief will render it right..
*mike, how is 8 compared to 7. i'm still using 7 and wondering if i should spend the money on 8. thanks, leigh
*leigh.. 2 things come to mind.....the old song "How ya gonna keep 'em down on the farm , after they've seen Par-eee" and the other one is the old saying from the civil war " I have seen the Elephant".. they both amount to the same thing.. once you've tried it , there's no going back....as 6 was to 5.. and 7 to 6..so 8 is to 7.....i'll finish up my work in progress with 7.. but all my new stuff will be on 8.... and the inevitable patch will come out for 8.02 before long also...as night follows day...
*thanks mike, the money's already spent. leigh
*Nice pics... specially...the handsome dude with the pup.Your pic looks great... the deck is partly done the way I need to do it... But as I see... the roofs are the bitch as in my dormer attempts tooooo.near the Saranac Pale Ale,ajJust one fer now... got the Valentines Day juggling hebe jebes of late...Ever been there boys?!
*aj.. remember the "lovin spoonful"' & " the younger girl keeps a rollin around my mind".. is that the heebejeebe's ?here's what that section is looking like in real life.. compare to the rendering preview...
*>the roof still exists inside the window of your dormer! ARRRGH!!!!!Dammit aj, you didn't say you want the roof cut away. Now I gotta write up a CCO.What the heck. Just to have fun... 12 minutes to cut away the main roof from behind the dormer, sheetrock the dormer ceiling, add a backwall and floor tile on the main floor, landscape, put a 30 watt lightbulb in the dormer, and set the sun to your location for today at 4 pm, assuming south exposure.I sometimes draw on paper, too, especially early on be/c it's faster when I'm just playing around. One of the things I like this for though, is the curved stuff, be/c it's so hard to draw that accurately. I was reviewing an architect's plans for someone, and the archy drew the elevations by hand. The ellipses were not accurate and misrepresented the heights in some critical areas (where a door would cut in, etc) by probably a foot or more. The precision of the CAD makes what they'll see on site a lot closer to the computer print than the hand approximation they paid for.I especially love the shadows from the sun. Can't beat this technology for showing someone exactly the effects of overhangs of a specific depth on his windows as his location and orientation at any time of the year.No more cco's. I tossed the files so I wouldn't keep playing around when I have something real to finish. Cheers. Jim
*OK... I give up.... Thanks guys for all the samples. Mike the as built looks identical... The carps must be working with your CAD drawings in one hand and the tape and saw in the other.... pencil hanging from their mouth.near the stream on a Friday night,aj